Draught Sealing

Benefits of Draught Sealing

Air leakages- often called draughts, are the biggest enemies of warm and comfortable homes in winter. Gaps and cracks around your doors and windows can result in considerable heat loss in winter. Around a third of household heat can escape through gaps and cracks in your home. Studies have shown If all the sources of draughts in a typical home were added together, it would be equivalent to having a 1.5 metre by 1.0 metre hole in the wall.

Draught proofing your home is an easy and cost-effective way to make your home more comfortable in winter and improve energy efficiency in your home.
Even if your home is well-insulated, warm or cool air can leak through gaps and cracks and even exhaust fans. Weather sealing (draught proofing) your home is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of lowering heating and cooling energy usage costs. It can cut your heating and cooling usage by up to 25%.

Air leaks can account for up to 15% of the heat leaving your home, worse still the air movement from cracks in floorboards, gaps around windows and vents can create chilly draughts. One of the best things you can do to reduce your heating bills and increase your comfort this winter, is to get rid of those old draught snakes and get serious about draught busting. Getting in the professionals and sealing gaps will keep you warmer this winter. Find out the common areas for draughts and what to do about them.

1. Windows /Doors

1.1 Self adhesive foam seals

Self adhesive foam seals (door snakes) are to be used wherever practical and aesthetically pleasing where the door or window meets the frame. The advantage of self adhesive foam seals is that functionality of moving window parts can be reserved whilst still providing an effective seal.

1.2 Gap fillers

Gap fillers will be appropriate in the surrounds of timber frames where they meet brick work.

1.3 Weather Strips

Weather Strips should be fitted to the base of all external doors providing a complete seal.

2. Exhaust Fans

Existing exhaust fans are to be retrofitted with “Draughtstoppa” self closing covers wherever placement of the fan permits.

3. Passive Vents

Passive ceiling vents are to be covered by installing an R4 ceiling batt directly over the hole to complete the seal.

4.0 Wall vents

Passive wall vents should be removed and patched. If wall insulation is being installed in the property, the passive vents should be sealed prior to its installation to prevent the insulation from entering the building.